Ensilage cutter and grinder



May 27, 1930. Q c, w g r 1,759,905

' BNSILA GE CUTT ER AND GRINDER Filed Dec. 6, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1idrled flail/'2 ENSILAGE CUTTER AND GRINDER Filed Dec. 6', 1926 2Sheets-Sheet z gmwntoz V I a; I ay'ieq Wflez'li 1| WW im- Patented May27, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHARLES w. 1mm, or DENVER,COLORADO, ASSIGNOR '10 1). x. STEPHENSON, or manvan, COLORADO ENSILAGECUTTER AND GRIIbl'ZDER.

Application-filed December 6, 1926. Serial No. 152,851.

This invention relates to improvements in the construction of ensilagecutters and grinders of the type disclosed and claimed in United StatesLetters Patent No. 1,621,510 granted to me on the 22nd day of March,1927.

In the patent referred to, I have described and claimed an ensilagecutter in which a screen or foraminated partition or wall is interposedin the opening from the fan chamber to the exhaust passage so as toprevent fodder from leaving until it has been ground or reduced to theproper size to pass through the foraminations in the wall, which isconcentric with the center of rotation of the fan. In my presentembodiment the foraminated partition is retained and functions in thesame manner as described in said patent. In addition to the foraminatedpartition, I have provided the inner surface of the cylindrical wall ofthe fan housing with a large number of teeth which terminate adjacentthe locus of the outer ends of the fan blades and which assist intearing or grinding the fodder. The outer ends of the fan blades havebeen serrated so as to increase their eflectiveness as a tearing orgrinding device. As it frequent- 1y happens that the fodder or grainthat is being ground contains some solid objects such as stones,'piecesof wood, iron or othermaterial which will bend or break the teeth on theends of the fan blades or the inwardly projecting teeth carried by thecasing, I have shown how the fan blades may be provided with a pluralityof pivoted hammers or one or more plates that are'pivoted at a pointnearer one end than the other so that when the fan rotates, these willbe thrown radially machine with parts thereof broken away to fan bladeslooking in the direction of arrow 4 in Fig. 3; l

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view showing the outside of the cylindricalwall, said view being taken in the direction of arrow 5 in 3; i 'Fig. 6is a section taken on line 6-3, Fig. 3; Fig. 7 is a section taken online 77, Fig. 3; Fig. 8 is a view similar to that shown in Fig. 3 butshowing a modified form of a fan blade;

Fig. 9 is a section taken on line 9-9, Fig. 8; and j I Fig. 10 shows amodification in which the hammers have been replaced by a single plate.Numeral 1 designates the supporting frame work one end .of which restsupon an axle 2 to which the wheels 3 are attached. Supported from theframe work is a machine of which only a parthas been shown in thisapplication. The portion that has been' shown consists of a casinghaving circular sides 4 and 5 whose peripheries are connected by -meansof a cylindrical wall 6. This wall exshown as a wire screen. Thisforaminous terial, which has been indicated by 7 and material isinterposed between the interior of the casing and the arcuate exhaustpas sage 8 so that any material that passes out from the easing into theexhaust passage must first be ground to such size that it will passthrough the meshes of this screen.

A shaft 9 is journalled in boxes 10 and 11, which are connectedrespectively to the sides 5 and 4. Secured to this shaft isa rotor 12which is preferablyforined of a circular cast iron disk having ahub'portion 13 arfd which is keyed or oherwise nonrotatably fastened tothe shaft. Secured to one side of this rotor is a plurality of knives14, which cooperate with the shearing plate 15 for the purpose ofshearing the fodder which is to be shredded, reduced or ground. Theapparatus for feeding the material tothe cutter has not been shownbecause I intend to employ the ordinary feeding mechanism which,therefore,

' 17 in which the outer end of the, shaft 9 is journalled. A pulley 18is secured to the shaft between the side 4 and the box 17, and

to which pulley the driving belt is secured. This belt, which has notbeen shown, is attached to the source of power in such a Way that therotor will be rotated in a counterclockwise direction (Fig. 1). As theshear cutting means comprising the knives 14 pass the shear plate 15,any fodder that is in place will be cut in the ordinary manner. This .utfodder will then fall into the casing which encloses the rotor.

For the purpose of providing a blast of air which will carry thematerial through the exhaust opening 8 to the silo or other storageplace, the rotor has. been provided with a plurality of fan blades whichhave been indicated as a whole bynumeral 19. These fan blades have beenillustrated in considerable detail in Figures 3 and '4 from wh' h itwill be noticed that they are formed y having secured to one side of therotor 12 an L-shaped member having a flange 21 and a side 22. The side22 is provided with perforations for the reception of the bolts 23 bymeans of which the part is secured to the rotor. A similar part having aflange 24 and a side 25 is secured to the opposite side of the rotor bymeans of bolts 23. When these two parts are.

in place, they occupy the positions shown in Figures 3 and 4, and havethe flanges 21 and 24 lying in the same plane. Secured to the undersideof the flanges 21 and 24, are angles 26, which are perforated for thereception of the bolt 27 which serves as a pivot pin for a number ofrotary impact reducing devices or hammers 28 which are. spaced by meansof washers 29. It-will be observed that the hammers 28 are pivoted nearone end and therefor when the'rotor is turning about its axis thecentrifugal force will throw these ha'mmers out into a positionsubstantially like that shown by dot and dash lines in Fig. 3. As

the rotor turns at a high speed, and since the hammers 28 are quiteheavy, they will form outwardly extending teeth which will retain aradial position against a considerable force,

and will, in effect, form a prolongation of the fan blades. It isevident that if some hard solid substance such as a stone or a piece ofa hard material should accidentally come into struction to be passed.This pivoted arrange ment with respect to the teethor hammers, is moreparticularly valuable in this combination because it will be observedfrom Figures 3 and 6, that I have provided the nonforaminous part 6 ofthe cylindrical wall with a plurality of teeth which extend inwardlyfrom the concave side thereof. These teeth have been shown as formedfrom bolts 30 that have a threaded connection with the diagonal strips31 which are secured to the outside of the part 6 in the manner shownmost clearly in Figure 5. Strips 31 have been shown as extendingdiagonally but they may go straight across if desired, and may even beomitted. Each bolt has a lock nut 32 by means of which it can bepositively locked in adjusted position. These teeth may, however, beformed in any other suitable Way.

nate adjacent the locus of the peripheries of the hammers 28, andcooperate with the latter to tear and grind any of the material that iswithin the casing. It is obvious that if these teeth were not providedthat the material could slide along the inner surface of the part 6 andtherefore very little grinding or tearing would take place except wherethe screen section 7 is located. By providing teeth 30, the capacity ofthe machine is greatly increased, and its. effectiveness for the purposeof grinding, tearing or'segregating is greatly enhanced. I intimatedabove that the pivoted arrangement of the teeth 28 is more particularlyuseful in this invention and this is for the reason that on account ofthe presence of the inwardly extending teeth 30, any solid material suchas a stone would be locked against rotary movement, and, therefore, the

, These teeth are so adjusted that they termiparts would break wheneverthe ends of the machine to stop and perhaps break if the fans haveintegral teeth, whereas with the pivoted arrangement, the rotor willcontinue to turn and gradually tear-the accumulated material away untilthe operation' becomes normal.

The fans 21 -24, Fig. 4, in combination with the teeth or hammers, 28,attached there- 'to form a combination of fan and hammers avhich will,taken together, oeat or hammer the fodder or grain in the chamber,reduce its size, and at the same time create'a blast to drive the groundmaterial through the foraminated partition and away through the outlet8.

In Figures 8 and 9 I have shown fan blades .Which are composed of twoangles similar to those employed in the arrangement shown in Figures 3and 4, but which have integral radially extending teeth 33, instead ofthe pivoted teeth 28. As intimated above, this arrangement may besatisfactory under ideal conditions but would be liable to breakage incase solid material should accidentally be introduced. The majority ofthe teeth 33 are cut integral with the flanges 34 but the gap betweenthe two angles has beenfilled by teeth 35, which are held in place bymeans of bolts 36. InFigure 6 I have shown a detail which illustratesone manner in which the section 6 may be constructed. It will be noticedthat a bar 37 is attached to the outside of section 6 by means of, arivet 38and that a channel 39 ls-secured to the concave side of thisbar. The concave portion of the channel bar. 39 is adapted to receivethe thickened peripheral edge 41 of the plate 5. In Figure 6 one edgeonly of the wall section 6 has been shown, but a correspondingconstruction is employed along the other edge. This construction may, ofcourse, be replaced by any other suitable construction and has merelybeen shown as one example.

It is sometimes desirable to mix grain with ensilage, as corn with hay,and reduce them together. It is also often desirable touse the device asa grinder alone. Suitable means are provided for introducing the loosegrain into the casing independently of the ensilage. Any convenientmeans-may be employed for this purpose. A

In Figure 10 I have shown a modification in which the hammers 28 havebeen replaced by a single plate "45 which is pivotally attached to thefan blades in the same manner as the hammers. This pivoted extensionmay, if desired, have its peripheral edge notched so as to form teeth 46if this should be desirable.

In Figure 1 I have shown a hopper 42 secured to the side 4 by means of astrap 43 and v communlcates with crescent shaped air intake 44. Whenevergrain, such as corn, oats,

wheat or any other grain is to be ground, it is placed in the hopperfrom which it passes into the chamber and becomes acted upon by therotor which reduces it to such a degree of fineness that it will passthrough the screen 7. The ground material will be driven by the force 0the air caused by the fan blades through the foraminated partition tothe arcuate exhaust passage-8, which is connected by a suitable pipewith a receiving bin, condenser or silo.

I desire to call particular attention to the construction in which thefanblades are provided with a pivoted extension consisting either of aplurality of hammers or of a plate like that shown in Figure 10, whichproduces adevice that will not be damaged bythe accidental introductionof hard solids and which gives greater efficiency to the fan, both forthe production of anair blast and for reducing by impact or by grindingand tearing.

' In case it should be desired to make the machine for grinding smallgrain onlyand the knives are not needed for cutting hay, fodder or otherroughage and in that case the fan blades'couldbe on one side only of thefly wheel, if desired, or they could be between two fly wheels or asupporting wheel for the outside of the fan blade.

It should also be borne in mind that this is the only machine, so far asI am aware, having combined fan and hammers for grinding small grain andblowing the material thus ground through a foraminated partition intothe chamber below and which receives the material at or near the axis,thus taking advantage of the suction in drawing in such material.

And the vcentrifugal impeller formed by the massive fan blades andhammers on the high speed rotor, acts not only to drive a blast of airthrough the peripheral screen formed by the foraminous plate, but willalso impinge the grain and the cut material while in suspension in thecasing with such an impact as to crush, and otherwise reduce it, inaddition to or it may be independently of the cutting and grindingactions which have been described.

From the above it will be apparent that I have produced an improvedshredding and grinding device by means of which it is possible to grindensilage, alfalfa, cornstalks or any other kind of fodder to such a finestate that it will all be consumed and which can 7 also be used forcracking shelled corn or grinding it or any other grain to a meal, andhave thereby converted a machine which ordinarily had a very limited usefor shredding ensilage into a shredding and grinding machine of generaluse.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In an ensilage cutter and grinder, a rotor, fan blades mountedthereon, a casing enclosing said rotor, said casing having a cylindricalwall curved about the center of rotation of said rotor, said fan bladeshaving extensions pivotally connected to their ends and adapted toassume a radial position when the 'fan rotates, the peripheries of saidextensions being closely adjacent the inner surface of said cylindricalwall when the rotor is ro-, tating about its axis.

2. In an ensilage cutter having a rotor, fan blades and cutter bladesmounted thereon, and a casing enclosing said rotor, said casing having acylindrical wall curved about the center of rotation of the rotor andlying close- 1y adjacent the peripheries of the fan blades, a pluralityof teeth extending inwardl from the concave side of the cylindrical wa1, said teeth terminating adjacent the peripheries of. the fan bladesand means for adjusting the position of the teeth with respect to thefan blades, said fan blades having their outer ends provided withpivoted'means adapted to cooperate with the teeth carried by the casinwall.

3. in an ensilage cutter'and grinder having 5 a rotor, fan blades andcutter blades mounted thereon, a casing enclosing said rotor, saidcasing having a cylindrical wall curved about the center of rotation ofthe rotor and formed in-part by a foraminous partition, said wall lyingclosely adjacent the peripheries of the fan blades, the foraminouspartition providing an exhaust passage for material passing through itsforaminations, and teeth projecting inwardly from the concave surface ofthe nonforaminous portion of the wall, said teeth terminating adjacentthe locus of the peripheries of the outer ends of the fan blades.

v 4. In an ensilage cutter and grinder having 2 a rotor, fan blades andcutter blades mounted thereon, a casing enclosing said rotor, saidcasing having a cylindrical wall curved about the center of rotation ofthe rotor and formed in part by a foraminous partition, said wall lyingclosely adjacent the peripheries of the fan blades, the foraminouspartition providing a peripheral exhaust passage for material passingthrough its foraminations, a plurality of teeth pivotally attached tothe outer end of each fan blade and teeth extending inwardly from theconcave surface of the nonforaminous portion of the cylindrical Wall.

In testimony whereof I aflix my si ature. CHARLES W. KE TH.

